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THE DIVINE GOODNESS ^ 



AS SEEN IN 



OUR NATIONAL HISTORY 



^ iritf f ieto 0f 0ttr ftrils huIj (!0Mipti0«s. 



A DISCOURSE 



NOVEMBER 85th, 1852. 



BY CHA.LDN BURGESS. 



BUFFALO: 
A. M. CLAPP & CO....PRINTEKS, 

Office of the Morning- Express. 

1853. 



N-^* 

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^O.^ 



CORUESPONDENCE. 



Little Valley, Nov. 28th, 1853. 
Rkv. U. Burgess, 

Dear Sir : — Believing that the Discourse which we had the pleasure of hearing 
from you on Thanksgiving Day contains sentiments of great importance, and 
worthy of a wider diffusion than they had on that occasion, we therefore respect- 
fully sohcit a copy for publication. 

Respectfully Yours, 

C. S. SHEPARD, 
ALFRED AYRES, 
S. S. MARSH. 



Messrs. C. S. Shei'Ard, Alfred Ayres and S. S. Marsh. 

Gentlemen : — After this long delay, I comply with the request contained in 
your note, of Nov. 28th, for a copy of my discourse. It is not without diffidence 
that I consent to make public so hasty and imperfect a production, and I should 
hesitate the njore in doing so were it not for encouragement to that effect given 
soon after its, delivery. Hoping, however, that its jJublication may not be entirely 
useless, you will please accept my thanks for the respect and kind attention you 
have thus shown me. Truly Yours, 

C. BURGESS. 
J.ittlc Valley, February bth, 1853. 



'7 



DISCOURSE. 



They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy Great Good- 
ness, AND SHALL SING OF THY RIGHTEOUSNESS. Psa. Cxlv. 7. 

We are liere to-day at the call of our Chief Magis- 
trate to offer our thanksgivings to Almighty God for his 
abundant and varied mercies. We come in compliance 
with an usage long established, and every way of most 
appropriate and beneficent influence. We are not alone 
in this service. Thousands in our own noble state, and 
other thousands in many other states of this great con- 
federacy, are now gathered in their respective places of 
worship for a similar purpose. 

It is a beautiful sight — that of a great and free people 
thus voluntarily setting apart one day in the year for 
the public recognition of their dependence upon God, 
and the free, full utterance of their gratitude to Him 
for their many national and personal blessings. It is 
full of cheering and hopeful omens. That nation or in- 
dividual cannot be wholly destitute of what is lovely 
and of good import, in whom a spirit of thankfulness 
for mercies received still reigns ; but the heai*t, be it 
national or individual, that is insensible to blessings — 
that depreciates them, or that does not thi'ob with grate- 



ful acknowledgment to the Giver, fiirnislies fearful evi- 
dence that it is already far gone in depravity, and pre- 
pared to plunge to yet lower depths in crime. The 
gratitude to which nature and reason prompt us religion 
enjoins as a duty. We are not told in Scripture to num- 
ber or weigh our sorrows, but we are encouraged to 
count up our mercies and our joys. To keep the eye 
ever open to perceive, and the heart soft to feel the va- 
ried and countless mercies that hang in rich and ripened 
clusters all along our pathway through life, is a virtue 
eminently christian in its character. For its enforcement 
the Bible is full of precepts and examples. We are 
there told to " Offer unto God thanksgiving ;" to " Enter 
into his com*ts with praise ;" to " Be thankful unto him 
and bless his name ;" to " Utter abundantly the memoiy 
of his great goodness ;" and the Psalm fi'om which these 
last words are taken, is remarkable for this — that it con- 
tains nothing throughout but thanksgiving and praise. 

It is an employment therefore eminently scriptui'al 
and christian in which we now propose to engage youi* 
thoughts, for a few moments, while, in compliance with 
the suggestion of the text, we shall enumerate some of 
the blessings which distinguish us as a people. There is 
indeed a particular sense in which the words could be 
applied to the Jew as they can be to no other nation. 
They were a peculiar, a chosen people. Through them 
the Messiah was to come. For their defence or deliver- 
ance God had interfered with visible agency — with 
mighty signs, and portents, and miracles. But though 
" He hath not dealt so with any nation " as He did with 
them — and hence they of all others are most specially 
called upon to " Utter abundantly the memory of His 
great goodness " — yet these words apply, we think, to 
us as a nation with great, with signal force. Let us 



with this view briefly recount some of the most promi- 
nent instances of God's " great goodness " to us. 

I. — god's goodness to us appears in the ciecumstances 

OF OUR national ORIGIN. 

Our origin is not, like that of most other nations, lost 
in a fabulous antiquity. We are able to point to the 
precise time of our national birth — to name the people 
whence we sprung — to trace the causes, whether more 
near or more remote, that brought us to this land, and 
finally developed our existence as a separate and inde- 
pendent nation. Our origin, too, does not, like that of 
many other nations, point us back to a paternity of mit- 
laws — to schemes of criminal adventure — to scenes of 
successful but unjust and bloody invasion. We cannot 
indeed lay claim to entire exemption from all these cir- 
cumstances of humiliation, but we do claim that any 
such scenes that may have stained the records of our 
early history are to be regarded rather as the unavoidable 
Goncomitamis than as the impelling fw^ce which drew our 
fathers to this land. Our origin may be described in 
one word— it was a religious origin. Other nations have 
grown up from the fortunes of war — from schemes and 
adventures for wordly gain — fi-om the union even of out- 
laws and freebooters ; but ours is the rare felicity to 
pointx to a nobler original — to point to religion as the 
presiding genius — the forming hand in our early histo- 
ry. It was to secure the rights of conscience, freedom 
to worship God unfettered by ecclesiastical tyranny, 
that our Pilgrim Fathers fled to this broad land. They 
were men deeply imbued with a religious spirit. They 
were actuated and controlled by the principles of the 
bible. They were men of faith and pi'ayer. They wei-e 
men of sterling integrity and inflexible purpose. They 



had learned to fear God and to fear nothing else ; and 
it is with equal truth and beauty that the gifted Mrs. 
Hemans describes their object in the following lines : — 

What sought they thus afar ? 

Bright jewels of the mine ? 
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war ? 

They sought a faith's pure shrine ! 

" God had sifted three kingdoms " that He might pro- 
cure the choicest grain, and had reserved the land which 
He would plant until the fittest and most favorable sea- 
son had arrived. Long ages of oppi'ession had made 
ready " a people prepared of the Lord," and here was, "A 
land all fresh and new" open for their reception. It 
had been concealed from civilized man till the pilgrims 
should sigh for deliverance and be ready for its occu- 
pancy. Here "The stately forests, the towering moun- 
tains, the majestic rivers, the mighty lakes, had from 
the creation towered and rolled and tossed themselves, 
stern and significant emblems of liberty." Here the howl 
of the wild beast, and the shrill scream or melodious 
song of birds, were mingled in wild dissonance with 
the rude speech or cries of savage man, the wandering 
lord of the soil, whose rough nature was in fit keeping 
with the wildness of the scene. From no part of this 
broad continent had there as yet arisen to the Creator 
any other form of praise than that mute expression 
which incessantly flows from the adorned landscape or 
the animal tribes, joyful in their freedom, except the 
blind homage of an idolatrous or aboriginal worship. 
But purer incense and a more acceptable sacrifice were 
yet to ascend from christian hearts along our gigantic 
rivers and from our wooded hills and expansive plains. 
When "The fullness of time had come" God called for 
His chosen band of faithful, pious souls, nurtured in the 



school of suffering, and thus prepared to prize above all 
things else freedom from religious tyranny, and they came 

Not as the conqueror co&es, 

They the true-hearted came ; 
Not with the roll of the stirring drums 

Aud the trumpet that sings of fame. 

Not as the flyiug come, 

In silence and in fear; 
They shook the depths of the desert's gloom 

With their hymns of lofty clieer. 

Amid tKe storm they sang ; 

Aud the stars heard aud the sea ! 
And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang 

To the anthem of the free. 

It was thus there came to our shores, the Puritan Pil- 
grims — men in whose veins ran the brisk Anglo-Saxon 
blood, aud in whose heart- the love of christian truth lay 
deep imbedded, and intertwined with firm pm'poses for 
civil and religious freedom. Here they erected temples 
for the pure and spiritual worshi]^ of God. Here they 
planted schools and colleges. Here they called up with 
slow and painful toil the appliances and comforts of civ- 
ilized life. The ancient forests fled before them, and 
scenes of beauty and culture smiled around. Here, in 
place of the howling wolf was heard the voice of praise 
and prayer ; and the various simple but sublime vu'tues 
of the christian character found an illustration in the life 
of many an obscm'e yet heroic soul. Throughout all 
the different colonies the Pilgrims established forms of 
government into which they infused the spirit of liberty. 
They had experienced evils enough from the encroach- 
ment of kingly prerogative uj^on the inalienable rights 
of men, to teach them to guard with sedulous care the 
young genius of freedom. They had a stern work to 
do, and their training had gi\'en them a stern and lofty 
character. They were fitted for heroic and daring deeds 



^ 8 

as well as strong social attachments. By such men it 
was that the foundation and pillars of our institutions 
were laid ; and whatever is benign or lovely in the as- 
pect or workings of these institutions now, may be as- 
cribed to the wise direction — the right and proper start 
thus given them. That we had such am. origin — that 
our fathers were prepared by a long course of painful 
but salutary discipline, through a series of tedious yeai*s, 
that they might lay wisely and firmly the foundation of 
a fi'ee and stable government, a government that should 
be the permanent defence and delight of a great and 
prosperous people — is it not a marked instance of the 
Divine Goodness to us, and a matter that calls for pro- 
found thankftdness to the Father of om* mercies. Oh ! 
let us from the depth of om* hearts thank God to-day 
that we had such an origin, and let us endeavo;' to prove 
by our lives that we are not unworthy such an oiigin. 

n. — god's goodness to us as a nation is manifest feom 

OUE PRESENT CIRCU]VISTANCES AND CONDITION. 

There are several particulai's under this head, to each 
of which we wish to call attention as fm'nishing cause 
of thankfulness. 
1. — The territory we ocawpy. 

It is a point, we suppose, established beyond question 
that the territoiy covered by the United States is infe- 
rior to none other on the globe. Other nations, it is time, 
may boast of particulai* advantages, and whilst, in some 
respects, they may excel some parts of our country, yet 
it may be justly said, that the advantages Bxefew which 
are not to be found equalled, if not surpassed, in some 
part of om* extensive domain. We are able to point to 
every desu'able variety of soil and climate, from the 
loveliest of Italian skies, to the stern and invigorating 



9 

ivinters of the north ; while in our lofty raountaliii 
ranges, in our numerous and mighty rivers, in our vast 
expansive lakes, in the majesty and splendid verdure of 
our forests, in the grandeur of our cataracts, in the abun 
dance of our mineral and commercial resources, in the 
picturesque beauty of our scenery in general, and in our 
many natural advantages for national defence — in nearly 
if not quite all these, we are confessedly not only with- 
out a superior, but without an equal. 

2. — Our politiGol iiistitfwtions are an evidence of God's 
great goodness to us, and a ground of thankfulness. 

The constitution under which we live, though, of 
course, not free from that imperfection which attaches 
to all things human, is nevertheless believed to be the 
freest and best of any known to man. Upon it have 
been reared institutions which are far in advance of 
those elsewhere enjoyed — institutions that have become 
the star of hope to oj^pressed nations, and that have im- 
pelled us on in a career of unprecedented prosperity. 
They have been tried by almost every fiery ordeal, and 
yet stand trustworthy and safe. Who then that has a 
christian heart, a patriotic heart, an American heart, with- 
in him, does not find it beating high with impulses of gra- 
titude and joy as he beholds these institutions passing 
through trial after trial, and crisis after crisis, unharmed 
and strong, giving evidence of their safety and stability ? 

It is at once matter of surprise and thankfulness, that 
80 large a people, so separate in interests and in geo- 
graphical position, so diverse in origin and sentiments, 
can live together as on£ great nation ; that the Cavalier 
and the Puritan, the Catholic and the Protestant, the 
Slaveholder and the Abolitionist, the plodding German, 
the gay and volatile Frenchman, the jealous and sombre 



10 

Spaniard, the witty and irascible Irishman, the sly and 
effeminate Italian, the staid sons of Scotland, the haughty 
Englishman, the Russian, the Dane, the Hungarian, the 
Swede, the Norwegian, the Swiss, the Austrian, the 
Prussian, the Pole — men from almost every country and 
every stripe of political and religious sentiment — should 
feel the assimilating, vitalizing force of our institutions, and 
live together in harmony. Yet, notwithstanding their va- 
rying civil and religious affinities, all these discordant ele- 
ments do feel the benign influence of our government, 
and become insensibly leagued in its support with strong 
feelings of patriotic attachment. 

Through the influence of our institutions light is 
springing up in other lands. " Europe has been sown 
with Americcm ideas," and the eye of the oppressed 
everywhere beams with new hope as it turns toward 
our favored clime. Every ill-starred adventurer in po- 
litical reform ; all the broken in heart, and fortune and 
hope, find here a welcome and peaceful home. In fine, 
all men share equally and freely in our political privi- 
leges, save that one luckless and pitiable race, who, 
though inheriting from the Creator the same nature 
and rights as ourselves, has alas been found — 

" guilty of a skin 
Not colored like our own." 

3. — The general diffusion of the means of ednjication 
among all classes of our people is another evidence of 
God's great goodoiess to us, mvl a matter that calls for 
our grateful rememhranvce. 

If we would rightly estimate the value of this nation- 
al blessing, we must compare ourselves with those coun- 
tries where the masses are left uneducated. We must 
also remember that intellio-ence and virtue are the chief 



11 

supports of freedom, and that free institutions to be 
perpetuated must be written, not on the statute-book 
simply, but on the minds and hearts of our citizens. 
There is scarcely another country where the means of 
information are at the same time so ample and accessi- 
ble to every individual as they are in our own. England, 
it is true, may boast of older, more extensive and richly 
endowed seats of learning ; but they are not accessible 
to the masses of her population, while our cheaper and 
hence more accessible institutions are even in advcmoe 
of hers in proj^ortion to our age as a nation. 

We have reason therefore, without any boasting or 
vain glory, to point with joy and with laudable pride to 
our various means of intellectual culture. The stores of 
knowledge treasured up, as in so many fountains, in our 
colleges and seminaries of learning, are distributed 
through our academies and common schools, being still 
further aided by the press, until the means of mental 
improvement are brought within the reach of all. 
There is not a man, woman or child in our republic, 
with that single unfoi-tunate exception, the slave., who 
need remain unblessed with soifue of the shinings of the 
sun of science. Besides, there are motives to inspire 
the mind with a desire for knowledge and honorable 
fame, springing out of our position as a free people, that 
are not to be found in any other nation. No individual 
is here shut out by his obscurity or povei-ty from run- 
ning the race and winning the prize, even the highest to 
be found in the walks of literature or the offices of state. 
In the very face of foreign jealousy our young country 
has won for herself an enviable reputation by her lite- 
rary productions. Our authors and scholars have ga- 
thered laurels along almost every path of literary am- 
bition, and at no period of our history has the effort 



12 

been greater or so great as now to secure the univei-sal 
dissemination of all kinds of knowledge. Strenuous ex- 
ertions have recently been made, and with considerable 
success, to render the rudiments of a sound education as 
free to all as the air they breathe. 

We are bound to thank God therefore, to day, that 
science, long shut up in courts and cloisters, now walks 
forth along every lane of life, and sheds her light on 
every poor man's cottage. We thank Him that He has 
sent her forth from her seclusion to share and lighten 
the toils of the husbandman. We thank Him, that in 
the field and in the shop, in om* kitchens and on our 
seas, science is present, cheering all the sons and daugh- 
ters of toil, ever pointing them to some new improve- 
ment — some way of shortening their tasks, that they may 
have the more time to spend in her instructive company. 

4. — We ought especially to " Utter tlie 'memory of God's 
great goodniess " to us in our 7'eligious blessings. 

We stand before the world in the attitude of a chris- 
tian people. We enjoy the knowledge of a Saviour, and 
the light of Divine Revelation shines fall upon our path. 
God is still acknowledged in our national councils as our 
ruler. We enjoy in its fullest measure religious liberty. 
The rights of conscience, for wliich our fathers struggled, 
remain unimpared. The largest toleration is given to 
every shade of religious sentiment. We have here no 
pampered hierarchy to which all must bow or feel the 
weight of the national arm. The most formidable of 
spiritual despots loses the power to persecute the mo- 
ment he touches our shores. In short we still hold to 
that cardinal principle of our revolutionary ancestors, 
" A Church wrrnouT a Bishop, awd a State without a 
King." 



13 

The custom, in pursuance of which we have come up 
to this house to day, gives us a pleasing evidence of 
the strong hold which religion has upon the convictions 
of the people. Though it is lamentably not so here, 
yet in many parts of our country a large portion of the 
population is this day assembled in their places of wor- 
ship ; business is suspended, and towns and villages 
wear the aspect of a sabbath. Now we regard this as a 
token for good. So long as the nation is thankful for 
its blesssings, and acknowledges the hand of God in 
them, we need not wholly despair of its contmued pros- 
perity. 

It is true, that in a survey of the religious state of 
our country, there is much to pain a christian heart. 
There is almost every form of fanaticism and religious 
error. Infidelity, assuming various artful disguises, mar- 
shals her hosts, now under this, now under that fair- 
sounding name, and waxes confident of success. There 
is a degree of restiveness under religious restraint — a 
recklessness about th€ nicer points of moral obligation 
— a decided distaste at things and ways, however good 
and sound, simply because they are old — a strange pre- 
valence of wild and crazy notions upon religious ques- 
tions, which, to say the least, looks ominous of evil. 
But then there is, on the other hand, a powerful reli- 
gious sentiment abroad counteracting these dangerous 
tendencies. A theoretical belief in the truth of the 
christian system seems to be spreading and deepening. 
We have the heavenly lessons of the gospel taught with 
much of their primitive faithfulness and purity in nearly 
every part of our country ; and though we would that 
all should hear the gospel and practice its teachings, 
yet we feel bound to thank God that there is scarcely 
any religious community destitute of smne whose lives 



14 

furnish beautiful illustrations of gospel doctrine, whose 
faith is seen in their works. 

Besides, if a moral act is to be valued in proportion 
to the intelligence with which it is performed, pei'haps 
our religious character never was higher than now ; for 
as the entire tendency of the age is against a mere blind 
submission to authority, it has the effect to produce an 
intelligemi faitli. There is thus greater likelihood that 
wherever faith exists at all now, it rests upon evidence, 
upon sincere conviction of the truths in question. Hence 
there is probably more of intelligent faith and intelligent 
obedience, in reference to the great points of christian 
truth and duty, than at any preceding period. 

We have occasion therefore, on the whole, to be thank- 
ful in view of our religious state. We thank God that 
the ordinances and institutions of the gospel are so gene- 
rally enjoyed, and that the Di\T[ne Spirit so frequently 
descends to revive and comfort the hearts of chiistains 
and extend the triumph of the cross. We thank God 
that so many children and youth are trained up in sab- 
bath schools and pious families to, a high standard of 
virtue, and that many of them expeiience the renewing 
power of divine grace. We thank God that there 
goes out every Sabbath fi'om our sanctuaries an influ- 
ence adapted to purify and elevate our nature — that the 
religion of Christ is receiving such general homage from 
science, and is taking such strong hold upon the intel- 
lectual might of the world ; in fine, that the indications 
are so numerous which foretoken the speedy approach 
of the universal triumph of Christianity. 

5. — -I name in the fifth place, as an instance of the 
Divine goodness to us and a cause of thankfulness, a 
point that has perhaps attracted less attention than it 



15 

deserves, namely : — Tliat (rod lia-s- given to us rnanf/ 
great and wise men. 

Amidst the heat and vituperation engendered by our 
frequent party strifes, we are apt, I imagine, to form er- 
roneous views in this respect. It is by looking at this 
subject in the calm light of history, and comparing our 
selves with other nations, that we are able to come to 
a truer judgment. In this view let our brief annals be 
compared with the long records of other countries, and 
how stands the account ? Other nations have not 
been wanting in men gifted with high genius and splen- 
did capacities for every station of life; but what names 
are they that stand conspicuous on the record ? With 
few exceptions they are the names of men who, though 
endowed with great powers, possessed charactei's black- 
ened by enormous crimes. We read of monarchs who, 
infamous in their lives, descended from their thrones to 
unwept and unhonored graves, and the nation felt re- 
lieved not distressed at their death. We read of great 
scholars and orators, but how often were they the tools 
of despots — the loathsome minions of a corrupt court. 
Here and there indeed the eye rests upon a name of true 
renown, a character of high and almost spotless integrity, 
but such an instance generally stands like an obelisk in 
the desert, difficult to account for, singular and grand. 

Now look at our own bi'ief annals. Mainly they pre- 
sent a pleasing contrast. Call up to your view that il- 
lustrious galaxy of heroes and patriots, who watched 
over om* young nation's birth, and nursed it into 
life. They were men genei-ally of strong minds, of 
pure morals, incorruptible integrity, and some of them 
of genuine christain character. They were men loved 
in their lives, over their graves a nation wept undis- 
sembled tears, and their memory still remains fragrant. 



16 

Every page of our subsequent history shines with bright 
and pure names. 

Patriots are here in freedom's battle slain ; 

Priests, whose long lives were closed without a stain : 

Bards, worthy Him who breathed the poet's mind ; 

Founders of art that dignify maakind ; 

And lovers of our race, whose labors gave 

Their names a memory that defies the grave. 

Statesmen, theologians, jurists, physicians, orators,- 
poets, artists, have flourished here, whose names would 
do honor to any age or nation. Is it not a cause of na- 
tional rejoicing and thankfulness, that we have been 
favored with such a bright array of gigantic intellects, 
swayed by benevolent and patriotic hearts — men, that 
after having blessed their country in their lives were 
borne away by death as a rich tribute to the land of 
spirits. That so much of goodness, of mtellect and of 
virtue could be taken from us and the nation still pm*- 
sue a prosperous career, should move our voices and our 
hearts to grateful acknowledgment. 

We cannot conclude this topic without adverting to 
our recent losses as a nation. The all-devouring insati- 
able grave has of late made heavy demands upon us. 
The great and the mighty are fallen. Scarcely are the 
nation's teai'S dry upon the tomb of her patriot Clay ere 
another mighty column of state is stricken down — 
WEBSTER IS DEAD. The greatest mind of the 
nation, perhaps of the world, has recently gone from 
us to its final account. A feeling of sadness, not easily 
repressed, gathers upon the mind at the thought of 
the removal fi'om among us of such a majestic intel- 
lect, and such a patriotic heart. It is becoming that a 
nation should mourn ; and more than a nation has 
mourned. The civilized world unites in deploring his 
loss. It is a pleasant thought, that a mind so vast as 



17 

his bowed so reverently to the authority of the word of 
God. " It was too vast to do otherwise : it touched the 
Eternal on every side. There seemed always about 
him a consciousness of Divinity." Whatever difference 
of opinion may be entertained in reference to his politi- 
cal views or private character, (and certain obliquities 
in his conduct every christian must look upon with re- 
gret,) there can be no doubt as to this: — that Daniel 
Webster' was a full heliever in the truth of Christianity. 
He was not ashamed to pray. He read and reverenced 
the bible, owned himself a sinner, and trusted in Christ 
alone for salvation. When such an intellect as his 
yields its homage to " the truth as it is in Jesus," how 
^w^vevnoij foolish as well as wicked appears the conduct 
of those who treat the gospel with scorn, and i*egard the 
instructions of the bible and the sanctuary as well 
enough perhaps for women and children and weak- 
minded persons, but altogether beneath men of their 
own lofty endowments. How fitting, how sublime those 
last words of our departed statesman — "i" still live? 
He does still live, and will live, while there is a heart 
that beats for the glory of our Union, or that can be 
stirred by the power of his eloquence. A great and a 
luminous orb, he has indeed sunk below the hoiizon, 
but he has filled the w^hole intellectual heavens with 
light, and " good omens cheer us from the bright track 
of his fiery car." How applicable to himself his own 
words spoken of the death of Adams and Jefferson — 
" A superior and commanding intellect, a truly great 
man, when heaven vouchsafes so rare a gift, is not a tem- 
porary flame, burning bi-ightly for a while and then ex- 
piring, giving place to returning darkness. It is rather 
a spark of fervent heat as well as I'adiant light, with 
power to enkindle the common mass of human mind, so 



18 

that when it glimmers in its own decay and finally goes 
out in death, no night follows, but it leaves the world 
all light, all on fire from the potent contact of its own 
spirit." His is one of the few — the immortal names that 
were not born to die. 

Let us be thankful to Him to whom " belong the 
shields of the earth," that He hath given our country 
such lights and defences. Let us be especially thank- 
ful that when our Webster was taken from us — that 
when, in his own words, his " eyes were turned to be- 
hold for the last time the sun in heaven" — he did not 
" see him shining on the broken and dishonored frag- 
ments of a once glorious union, on states dissevered, dis- 
cordant, belligerent ; but their last feeble and lingering 
glance beheld the gorgeous ensign of the republic still 
full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in 
their original lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor 
a single star obscured, but every where spread all over 
in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample 
folds as they float over the sea and over the land, and 
in every wind under the whole heavens, that sentiment 
dear to every American heart — "Liberty xmy Union, 

NOW AND FOREVER, ONE AND INSEPARABLE." 

It were as easy as it would be pleasing to dwell upon 
many other points illustrative of the Divine goodness 
to us. To count up our blessings is always a grateful 
employment, but the time is too far spent to allow us 
even to name any more of that vast throng of mercies 
which call upon us for thankfulness. It is already too 
far gone to permit us to follow out our original design, 
and speak at much length of the perils and obligations 
that grow out of our position as a people. But it would 
be manifestly a very imperfect view, and one very lia- 
ble to have an injurious efiect upon us, should we look 



19 

only at our privileges and blessings, and leave entirely 
out of sight tlie duties which spring from them, and 
the evils that still threaten us. Every blessing imposes 
a duty — every blessing is liable also through abuse to 
be turned into an evil and a curse. 

This topic of our national duties, as also that of our 
national dangers, is exceedingly important, but the late- 
ness of the hour will restrict us to a very few words. 
One of the most obvious and imperative of the duties 
that grow out of our nationaL position, relates to the per- 
petuation of our institutions and their extension to all 
mankind. It is the plain duty of the American people 
to seek in all suitable ways the universal spread of civil 
liberty. This is a sacred trust. In it consists our true 
glory and national distinction. The blood of our fathers 
and the wants of an oppressed world unite in demanding 
its extension. Let every citizen then do what he can 
by an active, cultivated mind, and a virtuous life, to feed 
the fountain of liberty at home, so that streams issuing 
from it may soon fertilize and make glad the waste 
places of the earth. 

Another important duty of ours has relation to that 
constantly increasing crowd of strangers and foreign- 
ers which every day brings to our shores. Here phi- 
lanthropy and policy unite in dictating the same course 
— vigilance and hi/ndness. To be attentive and hospita- 
ble to the stranger was a duty enjoined upon the Jew 
by the law of Moses. It was enforced by the consider- 
ation that their fathers had been strangers in the land 
of Egypt. The same consideration enjoins it upon us. 
Our Fathers were, like them, oppressed, exiled ; like 
them they dwelt as sojourners, and fled for freedom to 
worship their God. We are hence under peculiar obli- 
gations to keep open an asylum for the victims of civil 



20 

and religious tyranny throughout the world. Some of 
them come among us with principles and prejudices op- 
posed to our government. Many of them cherish reli- 
gious opinions most hostile to the spread of liberty, civil 
or religious. The influx upon us of so much darkness 
and error cannot but be attended with great danger. 
There is however but one course of safety^ — -we must 
treat them as friends and brothers. In obedience to 
the mild and j)eaceful genius of Christianity, we must 
seek gradually to open their minds to the truth that 
our country's prosperity grows out of its institutions, 
and that its institutions gi'ow out of the bible, freely dif- 
fused and read by all classes of our citizens. Let them 
be gradually won to good principles and good works, by 
seeiuo^ our own. 

Many other duties arising from our position and pri- 
vileges must be passed without notice — the promotion 
of temperance— the guarding and purifying of the foun- 
tains of education — the cultivation of peace — the allevi- 
ation of the poor — the overthrow of oppression; but 
they are all included in the grand central duty of main- 
taining and spreading a pure Christianity. Let then 
the sanctuary of God rise in all our neighborhoods and 
be filled with attentive listeners. Let the unperverted 
truths of the gospel be taught in all our churches, and 
its heavenly lessons received to our hearts and illustra- 
ted in our lives. It is thus only that that mighty troop 
of evils, which prevail among us and are incessantly me- 
nacing us with national degeneracy and ruin, can be 
overcome and destroyed. For, while enumerating our 
blessings and duties, let us not be blind to our sins and 
dangers. Each blessing may by abuse be made to bear 
the ripened fi'uit of sin and peril. And there are many 
things in our present condition that look full of terror. 



21 

Our very prosperity as a people has produced in us, in an 
alarming degree, a forgetfulness of our dependence upon 
God. Our miracles of invention, our many advantages 
over other nations, have swelled our hearts with boast- 
ing and with pride, as if by our own arm, and "our own 
power," we had "gotten this strength," The same feel- 
ing is to be found among us, to some extent, as actuated 
the citizens of ancient Rome, when, after surveying the 
vast riches and the gorgeous temples of that imperial 
city, its arts, the valor of its troops, its resources, enrich- 
ed by the spoils of all other nations, they cried out in the 
height of their exultation and pride — Tiie Eteenal 
City ! The Eternal City ! And yet, where now is that 
city which its proud inhabitants fancied eternal ? Where 
are those other cities of ancient power and magnificence 
on which the sun of empire has successively shone and 
passed away ? The traveler can find nothing of them 
but ruins — ruins which tell him that " a kingdom's dust 
is beneath his feet." And why fell they ? Because they 
abused their privileges — because they were unfaithful to 
their trust. The same fate awaits us unless we profit by 
their example. Let us not be deceived into the notion 
that we are secure —that "our mountain stands strong" 
and safe from all assault. If, flushed with our success, 
and trusting to our own strength, we forget our depend- 
ence on God — if, in our hurried chase after mammon, we 
neglect the interests of education and religion, God will 
cast us off, and we shall be added to the number of 
those "countries whose national decline has kept pace 
with their religions." 

Though we have now, apparently, a bright future be- 
fore us, let us remember that God is not dependent 
upon us to accomplish his purpose. If we should prove 
false to our trust, if we should be hurled from our liigh 



22 

eminence, if "all our hilk should blaze with the beacon 
lights of war and all our valleys should blush with the 
blood of brothers," still God would have infinite resour- 
ces at his disposal, and He can, at any moment, blot us 
from the map of nations, and set up, in our place, some 
other people who will be faithful to its trust. Let us 
" humble ourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of 
God " as we think of our national sins that seem like so 
many forked points to invite upon us the lightnings of 
Divine wrath ; the sin of intemperance — the sin of 
licentiousness — the sin of Sabbath desecration — of an 
inordinate love of money — of profanity — of general 
forgetfulness of God and of his sanctuary — above all, 
the sin of slavery, 

Human nature's foulest blot 

While we are peacefully gathered in this house to-day 
offering our thanksgiving to God for His blessings, there 
are more than three millions of immortal men, women 
and children, that are chained and tasked and visited 
with stripes, that mercy, with a bleeding heart, weeps, 
when she sees inflicted on a beast. 

OH, LIVES THERE A GOD OF ETERNAL 
JUSTICE, AND SHALL HE NOT VISIT A NA- 
TION FOR THIS! 

Slavery I — this it is that fills the future of our career 
with such dark signs and portents. This, more than all 
other causes, threatens us with national ruin ; for more 
than all other causes it tends to alienate the different 
sections of our people, the one from the other. The 
history of all past republics teaches us that if we fall, 
it will be by our own vices and dissensions. If we con- 
tinue united, no power from without may hope to harm 
us. Destruction, if it come , must come from a suicidal 



23 

hand. Yes, the last, the dying struggle of our country, 
if it come at all, must needs be embittered with the 
poignant reflection that she has, herself, plucked down 
ruin upon her own head. 

" So the struck Eagle stretched upon the plain, 
No more above yon rolling clouds to soar again, 
Viewed his own feather on the poisoned dart. 
And winged the shaft that quivered in his heart. 
Keen were his pangs, but keener far to feel, 
He nursed the pinion that impelled the steel, 
While the same plumage that had warmed his nest, 
Drank the last life-drop from his bleeding breast." 

The Gospel of Chiist, wrought into the heart and ac- 
tuating the life of this nation, is the only antidote to our 
various national perils. With it we are safe, without it 
we are undone. " If left to bow the knee to reason in. 
stead of revelation, to burn unhallowed incense before 
the idols which the madness of our speculation has set 
up," and to do what we can, by enslaving them, to reduce 
our fellow men to a level with the brute, then we may 
bid "farewell, a long farewell, to all that has given 
happiness to our homes and dignity to our State." 

We say, therefore, let any other evil befall us rather 
than that the Bible should cease to be read and the 
sanctuary of God to be visited by our people. Yes, 
" come barrenness into our soil ; come discord into our 
councils ; come treason into our camps ; come wreck into 
our navies ;" come fire and famine and plague, any other, 
or all other evils combined, rather than that the Gospel 
should cease to exeii; its hallowed and restraining influ- 
ence over us. 

Let us, therefore, having turned our thoughts to-day 
for a few moments to the contemplation of some of the 
many blessings and duties and perils which distinguish 
us as a people, go from this house resolved, as christians 
and as patriots, to do what we can to preserve pm'e and 



24 

strong the influences of virtue and, religion among 
us. Let us thank God that we had a i^eligious origin^ 
and let us strive to show ourselves not unworthy such 
an origin ; let us thank God for our liherty^ and seek to 
extend that liberty ; let us thank God for our means of 
education, oiur religious privileges^ our great and good 
men. 

Let us also thank God for our individual blessings- 
let us thank Him for our health, for our homes, for our 
harvests " filling our hearts with food and gladness;" and 
while we rejoice in these our mercies, let us not forget 
the poor — let us show hospitality to the exile and the 
strans'er — let us be earnest and incessant in our efforts 
for the promotion of true religion ; and let us, with an 
enlightened and stimulated zeal, labor and pray for the 
comino; of that time, when not a foot of our soil shall be 
trodden by a fettered step, or a stroke of its labor be 
performed by an unwilling hand. 

Then may we hope for our country's safety. " Then 
shall our flag float triumphantly in mid-heaven while 
there is a breath of air to fan the surface of the earth, 
and our country shall be the home of a great and happy 
people, until the sun becomes blood, and the stars fall, 
the elements melt, and the earth is burned in the last 
fires." 



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